Anyone have experience with this round? Any patterning? Performance on Hogs?

I have an over under combination rifle in 6.5x55X12GA with a low power red dot sight that I am wanting to use from a year round night hunting stand I have set up in East Texas. I primarily would be using the rifle barrel, but would like to have the shotgun barrel for a fast 2nd trigger pull followup shot if needed or for when I have multiple pigs. This would almost always be a 50 yard shot so that limited my ammo choices as most of what I was finding was low fps close range defense rounds. So I ordered some boxes of the above ammo to range test and hopefully hunt with. This one has 9 pellets of tungsten pellets at 1600fps. And it uses a flitecontrol wad that I know from my waterfowl hunting experience does a good job of presenting a tighter than usual pattern down range. I have not looked at or bought any buckshot in a few years so when I looked at all the current offerings online, it was dizzying to look through all the choices to pick one. Sorry for the caps in the title. I cut and pasted it.

I do. I posted back in the summer about my results. I patterned it, killed a hog with it and was really impressed. All the YouTube videos you see about this stuff are accurate. As I recall, I believe my pattern was about 6" at 30 yards. I'll need to find my post to be sure. The hog I shot with it was 33 yards and fell over like he was hit by a truck, DRT. Be sure to use an IC choke or you'll tear the wad and render it ineffective.

Thank you, I found it. Great report!
https://texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/7255071/

The combo gun has a fixed choke. I patterned it once with turkey loads and though I don't know what choke it is, it did not shoot like a full choke when I patterned it. Waterfowl hunting there are full chokes designed specifically for shooting shells with flitecontrol wads. And there are chokes designed just for wad stripping. Flitecontrol shells obviously don't do well in the latter. Also some believe ported chokes help strip the wad. So I don't know that I agree that all full chokes will tear up a flitecontrol wad or strip it. I think it just depends not only on the constriction, but also on the design of that particular choke and specs on the shell all combined.

OnlyS&W, were you using the lead version or the hi density version? I had a real hard time finding the hi density version. When I first noticed the 1600fps hi density version, it had showed up on the midwayusa sight. It was in stock and I had some boxes in my shopping cart while I looked around to compare prices. When I came back it knocked me down to one box in stock. Before I could finish the checkout it took that last box away from me. And everyone else was out of stock on it. It obviously is in high demand despite the higher cost due to using a tungsten alloy.

Google Dixie Slugs Tri-Ball Buckshot for real buckshot performance. Nothing on the market even comes close.

Going from 00 to Tri-Ball is like going from a roman chariot race to the Indianapolis 500.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

Lead, 1325 fps. I have since bought more and am really happy with it. It wouldn't be a big loss if you bought a box, patterned it and determined if your choke was too tight.

Thanks Leon,
I looked at it and the reviews online. The only thing that would worry me on that one is it is only 1100 fps muzzle velocity. I'm hunting a lighted feeder and a lighted pig pip. The brush line at the back of the feeder is exactly 50 yards from the shooting bench as is the back side of the clearing where the pig pipe is. All shots should be between 40 yards and 50 yards, no more, no less. I was ruling out anything under 1300fps for that range, but I was also only looking at 00 and 000 buckshot, not three .600 round balls. With the right choke people are reporting a 5 inch group at 40 yards. So it would be a crap shoot with my unknown fixed choke at 50 yards without testing it first. Ordering it is a little more of a PIA requiring a money order via snail mail, but if I don't get what I'm looking for out of the Federal hi density buckshot load, I'll order some of the tri ball to test and try next.

A report from another forum I did on the power and majesty of Tri-Ball Buckshot:

The short and sweet of my first deer taken with buckshot:

11/06/17 0706 hours Whitetail Doe walks out at 28 yards, two pellets entered shoulders, one pellet entered lungs, all pellets exited, Doe was DRT PDQ.

For the Gearheads:

Shotgun: Remington 870 Express Magnum 12 Gauge, 28 inch barrel, with Magpul Buttstock and Remington Factory Trap Trigger/Sear Spring (This alone dropped the trigger pull from 7 pounds to 5 pounds, really helps with precision placement of tight patterning buckshot and turkey loads) and Carlson's SS Sporting Clays .690 Extra Full Choke.

Ammunition: Handloaded copy of 3 Inch Dixie Slugs Tri-Ball Buckshot. Three .600 hard cast lead balls cast from a Double Cavity Lee Mold using an alloy of WDWW with 2% Tin added. Balls weigh an average of 318 grains each. The above shotgun/choke gives one hole patterns at 17 yards, 1.5-4 inch patterns at 40 yards, 6-8 inch patterns at 55 yards, and 10-12 inch patterns at 75 yards. This stuff is the B-52 Stratofortress of Buckshot...Speed, Range, and Payload.

I started casting just to make the hard cast round balls for this load. 99% of my shotgun shooting is with buckshot and slugs and none of the buckshot on the market even comes close to Tri-Ball Buckshot.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

To follow up something I learned about the Federal Hi Density Buckshot load. The advertised Hi Density on this round does not equal heavier than lead. This is probably ITX10 Shot which is 20% heaver than Steel or another alloy that is very similar. The muzzle velocity of 1600fps is to make up for the lighter than lead buckshot. Still the Flitecontrol wad combined with the hi density buckshot should in theory make for a very tight pattern over the same shell in lead if it behaves the same as steel/hi density vs lead patterns go with waterfowl loads through identical chokes. We shall see.

Leon,
I'm going to give the Dixie Tri Ball a try. The Federal load was giving me a pattern of over 24 inches at 50 yards with flyers well beyond that. the hevi shot at the higher fps was sure destroying our target stand and backstop though. It either was wishful thinking that the flitecontrol wad was going to give me a tight enough pattern at that extra 10-20 yards or it is very possible my unknown fixed joke was stripping the wad. The the pattern was very inconsistent with no central pattern anywhere on the board. It really was no tighter than the regular lead buckshot at that range. I'll save those rounds for times I am stalking hogs with my dog in the creek bottoms where shots will be close range. If the Tri Ball don't work for the distance I am trying to get. I'll have to retire my idea of using the combo rifle at the 50 yard hog stand. I will post a report after I get the rounds and put them to the pattern board.

If Tri-Ball patterns for you, nothing else will touch it. Have you taken one of those choke measuring gauges or a dial caliper and measured the muzzle of your shotgun barrel to get an idea of constriction?

Also, I would try a few 000 buckshot loads. Usually the larger the shot, the tighter it will pattern from the more open chokes.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

It's not as accurate as a choke tube and bore gauge and I don't have a way to measure the inside barrel to get a percentage over, but I just put an electronic Caliper to it the muzzle and get a choke diameter of .67. Surprised me that it has that much constriction. Googling I am seeing more than a few references to older Baikals having tighter than usual bore diameters. Looking at charts online it is obvious no matter what the bore diameter is, .670 is going to me somewhere from full to x-full range with this barrel. Federal I think recommends a cylinder to imp mod choke with this flite control ammo. That would explain my erratic patterns.

That might just work with Tri-Ball. .600 diameter balls with a wad thickness of .035 per side = .670

Just my .02,
LeonCarr